Sander

Neijnens

Sander Neijnens, born in 1957, works as a graphic designer in Tilburg, the Netherlands since 1991. His special interest is in type and typography. Besides the work for his regular clients, he publishes small books about specific topics. In 1996 he wrote Â»De onweerstaanbare letterÂ« (The irresistible letter) about type design. In 2000 this was followed by Â»Herinneringen aan Willem BuysÂ« (Remembering Willem Buys) about the sigar company of his grandfather. His most recent publications are Â»Shirt numbersÂ« (2004) and Â»LeporelloÂ« (2006, in Dutch) about the accordion.

Shirt numbers – the stepchildren of the football jersey

Thanks to the German football team from 1996, I discovered that shirt numbers are an interesting playfield for a typographer. From that moment on, I have studied this subject. From a typographic point of view most numbers used on football jerseys aren’t suited for their ‘job’, because the legibility is relatively bad and they make me think of anything except football. Millions of euros are spent on the design of football shirts, but it looks as if the numbers don’t count. In this presentation I will discuss the numbering styles of several football teams and clothing companies over the past ten years. Next, I’ll give some guiding rules for the design of shirt numbers and I’ll present some alternative designs I made.

Design, type & the accordion

In his free time, graphic designer Sander Neijnens plays the accordion. Because he is fascinated by this versatile instrument, he has written and designed a book about five accordion players. In this presentation Sander will tell about the making of this book. Furthermore he will explore the relation between typography and accordion playing. He will compare a written story to a melody in search for the musical equivalent of type.